DS5 has been reading for years, but his trajectory from decoding to independent reading is so far different than his sister's and I am trying to figure him out. When he was 2-3 years-old, we read every Dr. Seuss book (including the short stories) we could get our hands on. He LOVES them!!! We read most of them repeatedly. We also read most of the Cat in the Hat "Learning Library" books we could find. Once we exhausted these, we moved on to another character series, but again, we ran out of books.
DS can decode (he scored over a 190 as a 4-year-old on the WJ III Ach. for Letter-Word ID), and comprehend (over 160 on the WJ Ach.). Unlike his sister, though, he seems INCREDIBLY picky about his reading material. He certainly reads when he wants to (lately, books about video game characters - ARGH! But it is reading, I guess), but he doesn't read as voraciously as his sister (who has read CONSTANTLY, since she could).
I still read to him every day and he seems to like being read to, but I'd love for him to take the next step and read on his own more often (by now, his sister had become latched onto those danged Rainbow Fairy books and she has been reading like crazy ever since!).
I would like to get him hooked on another series, but I am really struggling. He really seems to latch onto characters (edited), but they have to "click" with him.
It doesn't help that he seldom gets a chance to read in kindergarten. They are aware of his reading abilities (at the beginning of the year, he was assessed as a Fountas Level R reader), but I don't think they really know what to do with him at school.
He seems somewhat "utilitarian" in most of his reading (if that makes any sense). If he wants to know something - he reads it. But unlike his sister, I will much less often see him just pouring over a book for long periods of time.
I am worried that he will not be as fluid of a reader if I cannot find more books he likes - HELP!!!
